RELEASE: Regression 5
It has been eight months since the release of Regression 4 last september. At the time of release it marked the start of a new, exciting era for the Regression film as they enjoyed a new and exciting major technical upgrade compared to the first three installments with the introduction of 4K DCI resolutions and higher levels of cinematic grading . With a runtime of 13 minutes, a new exciting angle of interest within the boundaries of 'movement' and overall fantastic reception, Regression 4 became a new groundbreaking entry in this highly acclaimed machinima series.
Now, 8 months later, it's time to release Regression 5: an experimental 'fly-on-the-wall' visual study of the Grand Theft Auto V map seen through the perspective of a (hot-headed) taxi driver. The game's vast map is explored this time from the view of a single taxi cab, similar to the submarine approach found in Regression 4 but with ever-changing surroundings and weather. The runtime of the film has increased with an additional 10 minutes, now clocking in at 23 minutes. A taxi driver is followed during his shift for a number of days, showing the various places of interest and numerous lanes, streets and corners scattered across San Andreas. While doing so, these places are represented to the viewer in an experimental manner, during which the camera always uses the taxi as its main standpoint. Regression 5 highlights the entire Grand Theft Auto V map from a new, experimental and exciting viewpoints, while maintaining the same cinematic look originally introduced in Regression 4. Regression 5 boasts one of the nicest representations and highest cinematic version of the Grand Theft Auto V map ever seen thus far.
Production commended around the same time as Regression 4 and was produced over the course of two to three weeks, excluding additional time spent inside the Rockstar Editor creating all of the shots. Additional shots were created in March of 2024 as the original cut of Regression 5 ended too abruptly. A number of additional shots were recorded during various times of day. With these additional shots, the Los Santos International Airport was given a bigger role in the film and presents a better justification for the ending of the film.
Regression 4 highlighted the 'feeling and interpretation' approach. Incantaro, which released almost two months ago, introduced the idea of 'burst consumption'. Regression 5 works differently in that regard and introduces the idea of 'environment'. Regression 5 aimed to create the feeling of an audio-visual environment or 'bubble' in which the viewer immerses themselves into without any further distractions. Similar to, for instance, HYPER REALITY (2020), no external music or sound effects were used during post-production of this film. The original idea was to include a background track for Regression 5; using countless Creative Commons music tracks to play in the background and to give off the idea of a car radio playing in the background. While this idea lasted until very far in the post-production process, something was off. The car and the radio were fighting with one another all the time and no matter what I tried during audio-post production, both of them refused to play nicely. I watched the film two times while the background track was muted, and was surprised to hear that 'environment' was so highly present in the film without the background track. In my opinion, environment worked perfectly without the background track. This is why Regression 5 is also released as the most minimalistic Regression installment to date. The film also includes a number of nods to previous and potentially new Regression installments. I will leave it to the viewers own devices to find them all. Regression 5 will be the final installment created within Grand Theft Auto V at this moment as my focus will change to other Grand Theft Auto installments. Regression 6 will be an feature-film documentary style representation of the digital representation of New York (Liberty City) and is currently in production as the first shots have been created and rendered.
The only thing I will share regarding Regression and Grand Theft Auto V is that Grand Theft Auto V will return one more time for an 'all-out' representation of the entire map within now and a few years. This exciting installment will not only allow the return of a few, already existing perspectives upgraded to the new technical and cinematic standards found in the past two films, but also a new number of highly interesting and exciting point of views that either have never been seen before or remain underexposed in Grand Theft Auto V machinima in general.
The visuals found in Regression 5 represent a living world, a breathing world, seen from a man at work, seen from within his "space", while he escorts numerous unknown habitants of Los Santos and San Andreas to their destination of choice. The audioscape or 'environment' enhances that, allowing the viewer to fully immerse themselves into this digital rendition of contemporary Los Angeles taken from a new, highly exciting and experimental perspective.
Regression 5 will release today, Saturday May 11th, with a live premiere on YouTube at 7PM CEST+2.
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